Passing…of the Greatest

In cricket, there are statistics, and then there’s Sir Garfield Sobers!! Statistics belong to scorekeepers, but Sobers belonged to mythology. When the sad news hit your Eyewitness that the great man had passed, he didn’t think about batting averages or wickets. He remembered the stories!! Every generation has them. “I was there when…” or “My father swore he saw…” because Sobers has always occupied that curious space where history becomes folklore!!
The modern game, with its hordes of analysts, are gonna have nervous breakdowns trying to classify Sobers!! Was he a batsman? Absolutely!! A bowler? For that, you gotta ask, “Which kind?” Fast-medium? Left-arm orthodox? Wrist spin? Yes, to all!! A slip fielder? One of the sharpest!! An all-rounder? Well, to your Eyewitness that description now seems insulting. Calling Garfield Sobers an all-rounder is like calling Leonardo da Vinci someone who “could sketch”!!
Today’s players spend careers specialising. Sobers specialised in refusing to specialise!! If his Captain needed pace, he delivered pace. If the pitch wanted spin, he became a spinner. If wickets were falling, he batted. If catches needed taking, somehow the ball found him. One suspects that if rain had interrupted play, he would’ve sauntered over and drained the field!!
His famous six sixes in an over have become part of sporting folklore – but even that feat underplays him. It wasn’t just that he could hit six balls over the boundary. It was that spectators arrived expecting something extraordinary!! And Garfield Sobers delivered almost whenever he walked onto a cricket field!!
We West Indians saw him as more than a cricketer. In an era when our countries were fighting for independence, Sobers strode into the world’s grandest cricket grounds as though colonial history had never existed!! Your Eyewitness saw him sauntering out with Khanai at Bourda – both with their shirt buttons open and their collars up!! Exuding confidence!!
The Aussies admired him. The Brits respected him. Even opposing bowlers, after being dispatched repeatedly to the boundary, were smiling wryly in reluctant admiration. It’s difficult to hate someone who appears to be playing cricket with the carefree delight of a schoolboy on a beach.
Perhaps that’s his greatest legacy. He reminded us that genius needn’t look tortured. It can (gap-toothedly) grin!! It can improvise. It can make the impossible appear so effortless – everyone briefly believes they too could do it – until they pick up a bat!! Your Eyewitness imagines, heaven has hurriedly marked out a cricket pitch. The angels have been arguing who gets the new ball, while the saints are already jockeying for places in the slips. St Peter has made Garfield Sobers Captain and quietly stepped aside!!
The scorebook, after all, was never large enough to contain Garfield Sobers. Legends live beyond the boundary!!

…or retaining the World Cup?
Well, even as a cricket fanatic, your Eyewitness gotta admit that football’s the biggest thing in sport – and today’s World Cup match between Argentina and Spain will pull an audience that will make cricket look like tiddlywinks!! Argentina are the current world champions – having three titles!! So, they’ve been there before – especially with their star player Messi, who shows he wants to go out with a bang!! He’s shown at 39; he’s still a game-changer!!
Now that doesn’t mean Spain gonna be pushovers – no siree bob!! That win against France was a joy to behold!! Your Eyewitness predicts Spain’s gonna dominate the ball, control territory, and try to wear Argentina down!! But Argentina will counter by staying organised, surviving difficult spells, and then striking with ruthless efficiency under the direction of Messi!!
It’s possible that Spain are the better footballing side, but Argentina are the better tournament team!! On Sunday, that tiny distinction gonna be enough for Argentina to retain the World Cup!!

…no mo SBA’s
AI has just made CXC announce they’re gonna have to scrap those School-Based Assessments (SBAs) that were supposed to supplement the exams that were criticised for encouraging rote learning!!
How to now check whether it’s AI or the kid??